True and Pseudocysts of the Spleen - A Diagnostic and Therapeutic Problem

Splenic cysts are rarely diagnosed lesions. This also includes splenic pseudocysts, which usually develop as a result of a blunt abdominal cavity injury. Splenic cysts are usually diagnosed on the basis of imaging examinations, performed in case of symptomatic patients or those subject to a blunt abdominal cavity injury.Material and methods. The study group comprised six patients with a positive history of blunt abdominal cavity trauma, verified by means of histopathological examinations, which were subject to surgical intervention at the Department of General and Endocrinological Surgery, Medical University in Łódź, during the period between 01.01.2006 and 31.12.2010. Before or during the surgical procedure cystic lesions were diagnosed. The efficacy of the surgical intervention was determined.Results. Splenic pseudocysts were diagnosed in only two of the patients, although in all there was a reasonable suspicion of the above-mentioned lesion. One patient required three operations, due to recurrence of the lesion, which proved to be a primary epithelial cyst. Two of the patients required early explorative relaparotomy. Apart from the above-mentioned, treatment proved uneventful.Conclusions. The diagnosis of a splenic pseudocyst is established in case of suspicion of the above-mentioned lesion. This is evidence that in some patients focal lesions of a different nature are present, being detected by means of diagnostic imaging examinations performed after abdominal cavity injuries